The word 'illustration' is often thought of a dirty word in the fine art scene, which I've always found perplexing. To me, commercial illustrators are some of the most talented artists in the world. So it's very nice to see high fantasy art (complete with dragons in some cases!), receive such notoriety along side traditional portraiture and still lives.

I have no doubt I'll miss a few, but just some of the Illustrators to take home awards include:

Donato Giancola

1st Place: Most Ambitious Work

Julie Bell

1st Place: Animal Category

Sam Burley

Most Creative Work

David Palumbo

Finalist: Figure Category

Don Maitz

Finalist: Figure Category

Howard Lyon

Finalist: Figure Category

Heather Theurer

Finalist: Figure Category

Patrick Jones

Finalist: Figure Category

Thomas Kuebler

Finalist: Sculpture Category

James Gurney

Finalist: Animal Category

There are, of course, a TON of other amazing and well deserving works. I highly recommend you go take a look at them at The Art Renewal Center's website. Be sure to click on each piece, as most of them have extremely hi-rez scans for your perusal.